Sokushinbutsu

Sokushinbutsu (linktext|即|身|仏) were Buddhist monks or priests who allegedly caused their own deaths in a way that resulted in their being mummified. This practice reportedly took place almost exclusively in northern Japan around the Yamagata Prefecture. It is believed that many hundreds of monks tried, but only between 16 and 24 such mummifications have been discovered to date.

For 1,000 days (a little less than three years) the priests would eat a special diet consisting only of nuts and seeds, while taking part in a regimen of rigorous physical activity that stripped them of their body fat. They then ate only bark and roots for another thousand days and began drinking a poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree, normally used to lacquer bowls. This caused vomiting and a rapid loss of bodily fluids, and most importantly, it made the body too poisonous to be eaten by maggots. Finally, a self-mummifying monk would lock himself in a stone tomb barely larger than his body, where he would not move from the lotus position. His only connection to the outside world was an air tube and a bell. Each day he rang a bell to let those outside know that he was still alive. When the bell stopped ringing, the tube was removed and the tomb sealed. After the tomb was sealed, the other monks in the temple would wait another 1,000 days, and open the tomb to see if the mummification was successful. If the monk had been successfully mummified, they were immediately seen as a Buddha and put in the temple for viewing. Usually, though, there was just a decomposed body. Although they weren't viewed as a true Buddha if they weren't mummified, they were still admired and revered for their dedication and spirit. [http://www.sonic.net/~anomaly/japan/dbuddha.htm, Garth Laslam, 2002.]

As to the origin of this practice, there is a common suggestion that Shingon school founder Kukai brought this practice from Tang China as part of secret tantric practices he learned, and that were later lost in China. [ [http://www.agorajournal.org/2005/Lowe.pdf Shingon Priests and Self-Mummification] by Aaron Lowe in [http://www.agorajournal.org Agora Journal] (2005).]

The practice was satirized in the story "The Destiny That Spanned Two Lifetimes" by Ueda Akinari, in which such a monk was found centuries later and resuscitated. The story appears in the collection "Harusame Monogatari".

Mummification in other Buddhist traditions

While mummification does occur as a funeral custom in a variety of Buddhist traditions, it is not a common practice, more common being cremation. Many mahayana buddhist monks knew the time of death and left their last testaments and their students accordingly buried them sitting in lotus posture(跏趺), put into a vessel(坐缸、坐龛) full of coal, wood, paper and/or lime and surrounded by bricks, and be exhumed after usually 3 years [www.ah.gov.cn/cjfw/ahly/showcontent.asp?newsid=%7B1E8B86BC-DF96-496B-B70A-8F414E92E82B%7D] . The preserved bodies would be painted with paints(涂漆) and sticked with gold(贴金). Many were so respective that their students preserved them. They were called corporal bodhisattvas(肉身菩薩). Many destroyed during the cultural revolution in China, some preserved, such as Huineng and Kim Kiaokak , and some recent ones were reported. One such was Shi Cihang(慈航) in Taiwan.

Other notable examples of Buddhist mummification (Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov in Siberia, Loung Pordaeng in Thailand, and a 15th-century Tibetan monk from Northern India examined by Victor Mair in the documentary "The Mystery of the Tibetan Mummy". While the documentary suggests that the monk may have consumed poisonous matters on purpose, there is no proof of such practice for any of the mentioned persons, so the poisonous substances occasionally found in their remains may have been applied to their corpses by their followers.

Popular culture

* In the Megami Tensei games, a practitioner of Sokushinbutsu known as Daisoujou makes numerous appearances in the games. The character is portrayed as a preserved skeleton wearing yellow clothing and holding a bell.
* In the Inu Yasha series, a monk by the name of Saint Hakushin went through the process of Sokushinbutsu in times of famine and war in order to be able to protect villagers forever as a living buddha. However near his death he determined that he did not want to die and his soul became lost until revived by Naraku in order to erect a powerful holy barrier

References

*cite journal |last=Hori |first=Ichiro |year=1962 |title=Self-Mummified Buddhas in Japan. An Aspect of the Shugen-Dô ("Mountain Asceticism") Sect |journal=History of Religions |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=222–242 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-2710%28196224%291%3A2%3C222%3ASBIJAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O |accessdate= 2007-06-28 |doi=10.1086/462445
*Mathews, Chris. [http://cjmathews.com/sokushinbutsu.html "Ritual Self- Mummification."]
* [http://www.sonic.net/~anomaly/japan/dbuddha.htm Buddhist Mummies of Japan]
* [http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/2007/06/27/sokushinbutsu-the-self-mummified-monks-of-japan Sokushinbutsu]
* [http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/07/self-mummified-monks-of-japan.html The Self-Mummified Monks of Japan]

ee also

*Sarira
*Rainbow body

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/gabigreve2000/mummiesinjapan.html Daruma Forums] - photos and descriptions of travelling to see Sokushinbutsu